Fear and loathing in US MEDIA- media relations and foreign policy

the runaway general

American investigative journalist Michael Hastings was resurrected this week, and rightly so.

An article authored by Hastings and featured in a June 2012 issue of Rolling Stone was reprinted this week after American POW Bowe Bergdahl and five top Taliban prisoners held in Guantanamo bay were exchanged, causing an uproar along the political spectrum.

The deal brokered between the White House and the Taliban was not subject to any approval or congressional oversight and the war-hawks calloused by years of war heralded the decision to exchange five detainees as ‘not worth it’.

‘the definitive article’

Details of Bergdahls time in Afghanistan have unnerved the spindly in congress and the media who remained complacent when Bush released over 600 terrorist detainees during his reign.

Hasting’s article “Bowe Bergdahl: America’s Last Prisoner of War” is a novel biopic of prophetic proportions detailing the personal story of Bowe Bergdahls parents and their son a small town home schooled ballet dancer of noted self-discipline enlisted in the marines, lost his faith in the mission and abandoned post- becoming the idol of discontent for many, including the Taliban.

All operations and resources ceased until Bergdahl was found, but he never was.

The complexity of the curious case of Bowe Bergdahl is lined in a whole new context with the war(s) drawing to a close and American support for the wars long abandoned years before Bergdahl walked away.

Hastings, best known for the 2010 Rolling Stone cover story that ended the career of Army General Stanley McChystal began to show signs of paranoia when it became apparent this war had been extended to investigative reporters.

Michael Hastings lost his life on June 18th, 2013 after his Mercedes C250 Coupé exploded before crashing into a tree at 4AM in Los Angeles.

In its coverage of Hastings’ death, the Canada Free Press noted:

“It appears that Mr. Hastings made multiple contacts with sources directly associated with the illegal NSA domestic spying program, and either recently acquired materials and/or information about the extent of, the targets of, and the recipients of the information of domestic spying program.

“It is speculated that the latter information was of particular concern to as yet unidentified individuals holding positions of authority within the US Department of Defense and their subcontractors, as well as certain parties within the Executive branch of the United States government.

“Investigation and research suggests that Mr. Hastings might have obtained, or arranged to obtain, information pertaining to the role of a particular high-ranking officer within the US military overseeing the domestic aspects of the NSA project.”

Hours before his death, Hastings contacted Jennifer Robinson (a lawyer with Wikileaks, the secrets-sharing website) to report his concerns that the FBI was investigating him. (An FBI spokeswomen swiftly and emphatically denied that the bureau was investigating the reporter.)

Meanwhile, the possibility of “foul play” was bolstered by the discovery of a panicked email that Hastings sent to friends. In what proved to be his last message, Hastings wrote:

“Subject: FBI Investigation, re: NSA -Hey (redacted names) — the Feds are interviewing my ‘close friends and associates. Perhaps if the authorities arrive ‘BuzzFeed GQ,’ er HQ, may be wise to immediately request legal counsel before any conversations or interviews about our news gathering practices or related journalism issues. Also: I’m onto a big story, and need to go off the rada[r] for a bit.